UPB Annual Report 2015

| 10.08.2016 |

UPB and its subsidiaries together comprise one of the leading Latvian industrial holdings. The key lines of business of the UPB holding are design, production, supply and assembly of building structures, building contractor activities, trade and servicing. The largest product groups include glass, steel and concrete structures, as well as cogeneration (CHP) stations and mechanical engineering solutions. The UPB holding comprises companies operating in Latvia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Belarus.

The consolidated net turnover of UPB holding for 2015 was EUR 108 million, and the holding has more than 1300 employees. UPB products are produced in 8 plants with total production area under the roof of more than 60 000 square meters. 11 plants of ready-mix concrete operate under the UPB holding.

In 25 years of business, UPB has acquired extensive experience in export markets, and in 2015 the sales volume in Latvia and export countries reached a proportion of 30% to 70%. Sales volumes in export markets continue to grow, at the same time the State Revenue Service of Latvia recognized UPB as the second largest tax payer in Kurzeme region and the largest tax payer in the field of construction in Latvia in 2015. The UPB holding has also received awards and assessment as the best employer in construction sector in Latvia.

In prestigious competition European Business Awards 2014/2015 UPB ranked among the ten best companies receiving Ruban dHonneur medal in Import/Export category. 24 thousand companies from 33 European countries participated in this competition, and they were evaluated by 132 panel members.

Meanwhile, in the competition Latvijas Būvindustrijas Lielā balva 2015 UPB engineers have received high assessments regarding achievements in their profession.

Close cooperation between the UPB holding company groups encourages implementation of such projects that include all three key product groups - glass, steel and concrete structures, as well as complete project cycle - from design to installation. The share of these complex projects in the overall sales portfolio is increasing. Projects implemented by UPB are becoming not only larger and more complex, they also include Scandinavian and German sustainable and energy-efficient structure requirements, the holding has competency working in such environment and sustainability systems as BREEAM, LEED, Miljobyggnad, Future built; moreover, compliance with the ISO 14001 environmental management system conditions is an integral part of the structure process. Continuing the development towards sustainable structure, the Environmental Product Declaration has been issued for the holding`s concrete structures (Dzelzsbetons MB) and steel structures (RK Metāls), which gives an advantage when participating in Scandinavian construction projects.

The Company continues to invest in 3D software expansion, due to which the design and architecture office of the holding UPB Projekti has switched to design in 3D modelling environment; at the same time the holding is introducing glass structure design in single building information model (BIM), combining design of glass, steel and concrete structures. UPB continues to work on development of joint information system, which is integrated with the newly introduced financial system Axapta.

UPB also participates actively in social activities, in particular by supporting education, art and sports programs. In the field of education, professionals of the holding are involved both in educating students in universities and providing them internships, and engaging in career days, and showing them UPB production units. During 2015, by promoting introduction of BIM technologies in universities, UPB purchased TEKLA software licenses for Civil Engineering Faculty of Riga Technical University. Research and development projects in the field of civil engineering are carried out together with the academic staff and students of the University.